Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Paychex updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 4.960-5.050 EPS.

Paychex Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 12-month low of $106.27 and a 12-month high of $141.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total transaction of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $674,005.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays upped their price target on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.62.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.